SNEC
Newsletter
2023-02-24
2023 SNEC / NED Meeting Content
Thank you to all the folks who made the AFS SNEC/NED meeting in
Boston possible! Three Cheers to the Planning Committee, Student
Volunteers, Moderators, AV Crew, AFS HQ Staff, Poster and Oral
Presenters, and Attendees. More pictures and experiences from the
conference will be published in the Spring newsletter.

Thanks also to Rachel
Pomerleau who designed the logo for this meeting. Rachel is a
graduate student at Acadia University studying trace element
contaminants in coastal recreational fishes in Atlantic Canada. She’s
also an artist!

2022 AFS Annual Meeting Travel Award Recipients
Thanks to the generosity of our members, SNEC supported two students
in their travels to Spokane, Washington for the AFS annual meeting last
fall.
Asha Ajmani is a PhD student at UMass Amherst and a Fellow at the
Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center.
Thank you for the opportunity to attend AFS 2022. I was proud to
attend a conference that focused so much on the value of Indigenous
Knowledge, Indigenous science, and Indigenous partnerships. It is hard
to work in a field where Tribal engagement is relatively new, and it is
personally frustrating and isolating to be one of the few people at my
university engaging in this work; my goals and the goals of the Tribal
community don’t often align with the standard research milestones
guiding academia. It was welcoming and rewarding to participate in a
conference where we were invited to be a part of culture and science
that highlights the Indigenous ways of life, including deep connections
to culture and nature. For the first time in a long time, I felt
connected to a community that appreciates this, and I was able to
network and make connections with others working with Indigenous
communities. One idea that really stood out to me was the concept of
Indigenous methodologies and how fish are “interrogated” throughout
their whole life. From Sammy Matsaw Jr., I learned that the
Wolf-Teachings promote keeping our hands off the fish. Using
light-handed methods, or methods that provide more information with less
handling of the fish, fits in with these teachings and helps advance
more quickly towards a subsistence goal. These goals are higher than the
recovery goals set by state or federal management agencies. I would like
to incorporate this light-handed methodology more intentionally into my
work, as it aligns with the concepts taught to me by my Tribal partners
and with my own personal beliefs.
You can read more about Asha, her research, and her experience in
Spokane here.
Katrina Zarrella Smith is a PhD Candidate in the Jordaan Fisheries
and Aquatic Ecology lab at UMass Amherst.
AFS Spokane was an amazing opportunity for me to debut my
dissertation research to an important audience. I view professional
conferences, specifically AFS, as an essential development tool in the
research process from start to finish, and not just a time to
communicate final results. The “Bringing new perspectives to marine and
estuarine fisheries” symposium, where I gave my oral presentation,
provided an excellent platform to share plans for my research,
interesting preliminary results, and work on developing my scientific
communication style. Through my talk and time at AFS, I was able to make
valuable connections with professionals and peers ─ connections that
will ultimately enhance my research products and broaden my career
avenues. This award also enabled me to take advantage of the Continuing
Education courses which taught me skills that I am now applying in my
modeling work. I am also a member of the Equal Opportunities Section and
AFS was a great time for us all to come together, meet folks with
similar experiences, and move forward with new energy to take on the
challenges of bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion principles to
our profession. Thank you all for this award and for supporting me as I
work to achieve my goals.
You can read more about Katrina, her research, and her experience in
Spokane here.
Center for Coastal Studies Researching Shellfish Abundance in East
Harbor on Cape Cod
The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) Marine Fisheries Research
program has been working closely with scientists and students from the
National Park Service Cape Cod National Seashore and Antioch University
to study horseshoe crab and shellfish populations in East Harbor, also
known as Pilgrim Lake, a coastal lagoon in Truro and Provincetown on the
outer Cape. The construction of the railroad in the 1800s isolated East
Harbor from Cape Cod Bay, now connected to the Bay only by a culvert
under Route 6 and Shore Road that for years functioned only as an
overflow to prevent rainwater from overfilling the lagoon and flooding
the highway. An oxygen depletion and fish kill in September 2001
prompted the Town of Truro and Cape Cod National Seashore to investigate
options for restoring the East Harbor system, and in the following year,
the Seashore began a tidal
restoration project, allowing the tide to run in and out of the
culvert. The lagoon quickly turned from brackish to estuarine/saltwater
conditions and water quality improved. Fish and shellfish returned to
the system relatively quickly, but in the years following the
restoration, their numbers fluctuated from year to year.

The CCS Toyota Tacoma often served as a mobile plankton
laboratory this summer. A pump sampler designed and built by Marine
Fisheries Research Director Owen Nichols operated off the truck’s
battery, filtering plankton from hundreds of gallons of water.
This summer, CCS Marine Fisheries Research director Owen Nichols
collected zooplankton samples as part of a study of shellfish abundance
and distribution in the East Harbor system. Nichols will be analyzing
these samples this winter, comparing the numbers of bivalve (two-shelled
molluscs like clams and mussels) and crab larvae in samples collected on
incoming and outgoing tides in order to understand factors driving
changes in the abundance of shellfish and their predators (such as the
invasive green crab). While the CCS Marine Fisheries Research program
often works offshore with the Cape’s commercial fishing community, we
frequently respond to community concerns by looking inshore at the vital
habitats of our bays, marshes, and coastal lagoons.
CT DEEP Fall Salmon Stocking Includes High School Students
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
fisheries biologist Matt Devine stocked salmon in the Naugatuck River
with the help of eager and enthusiastic high school students from
Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, CT. It was a Natural Resource
Conservation course as well as an aquaculture course. 17 students helped
stock fish and learn about what we do and why here at Inland Fisheries.
They were energized, asked lots of great questions, and many left asking
how they could get a job with us and for additional ways to help protect
the resource. These opportunities are a fantastic way to engage the
public, our stakeholders, and the next generation (and they are
fun!!).

Learn More About Our Region
UConn Today ran a feature story about research at the
intersection of river herring restoration and climate change in
Connecticut. You can read more about that collaborative effort between
fisheries biologists and hydrologists here.
The State of the Harbor Conference in Wellfleet, MA was
cosponsored by the Friends of Herring
River, Mass Audubon, The Center for Coastal Studies,
The Wellfleet
Conservation Trust, and the Town of Wellfleet. It included
presentations about using eDNA to track winter flounder, herring
restoration, and nutrient flows in the harbor. Check out a recording of
the conference here
The team behind a multi-year human dimensions research project
studying attitudes to rebounding seal and shark populations among
different demographic groups on Cape Cod has been busy publishing the
results of their research. Check out more about the project here.
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries biologist John
Sheppard put together a YouTube
video to go along with a recent publication he co-authored, entitled
Phenological
Variation in Spring Migration Timing of Adult Alewife in Coastal
Massachusetts
Recently Published Research
Applied aspects of locomotion and biomechanics
Castro-Santos, T., Goerig, E., He, P., & Lauder, G. V. (2022).
Applied aspects of locomotion and biomechanics. Fish Physiology,
39, 91–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/BS.FP.2022.04.003
Locomotion is the act and process of moving from place to place,
which is fundamental to the life history of all mobile organisms. While
the field of biomechanics encompasses the study of the physical
constraints of what animals are capable of, ecological contexts require
an integrated view that includes ecology and behavior. This chapter
provides an overview of some of the areas where locomotion and
biomechanics of fish movement interface with the rapidly evolving
changes that humans impose on aquatic environments. These changes
include fundamental alterations to the environment such as altered
flows, fragmentation of riverine habitats, and invasive species, but
also direct interactions that occur with capture fisheries. We explore
each of these areas, considering both challenges and opportunities
informed by the study of locomotion and biomechanics, emphasizing how
this field can contribute to conservation of fishes in the Anthropocene.
We then turn to technology, where important advances are aiding in our
understanding of fish movement. In some cases those advances have
themselves led to novel technologies, where biomimetic robots and
related devices offer novel opportunities, both for conservation and for
other pursuits. Read
the full paper..
Unprecedented summer hypoxia in southern Cape Cod Bay: an ecological
response to regional climate change?
Scully, M. E., Geyer, W. R., Borkman, D., Pugh, T. L., Costa, A., &
Nichols, O. C. (2022). Unprecedented summer hypoxia in southern Cape Cod
Bay: an ecological response to regional climate change?
Biogeosciences, 19(14), 3523–3536. https://doi.org/10.5194/BG-19-3523-2022
In late summer 2019 and 2020 bottom waters in southern Cape Cod Bay
(CCB) became depleted of dissolved oxygen (DO), with documented benthic
mortality in both years. Hypoxic conditions formed in relatively shallow
water where the strong seasonal thermocline intersected the sea floor,
both limiting vertical mixing and concentrating biological oxygen demand
(BOD) over a very thin bottom boundary layer. In both 2019 and 2020,
anomalously high sub-surface phytoplankton blooms were observed, and the
biomass from these blooms provided the fuel to deplete sub-pycnocline
waters of DO. The increased chlorophyll fluorescence was accompanied by
a corresponding decrease in sub-pycnocline nutrients, suggesting that
prior to 2019 physical conditions were unfavorable for the utilization
of these deep nutrients by the late-summer phytoplankton community. It
is hypothesized that significant alteration of physical conditions in
CCB during late summer, which is the result of regional climate change,
has favored the recent increase in sub-surface phytoplankton production.
These changes include rapidly warming waters and significant shifts in
summer wind direction, both of which impact the intensity and vertical
distribution of thermal stratification and vertical mixing within the
water column. These changes in water column structure are not only more
susceptible to hypoxia but also have significant implications for
phytoplankton dynamics, potentially allowing for intense late-summer
blooms of Karenia mikimotoi, a species new to the area. K. mikimotoi had
not been detected in CCB or adjacent waters prior to 2017; however,
increasing cell densities have been reported in subsequent years,
consistent with a rapidly changing ecosystem. Read the full
paper..
An interdisciplinary review of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) stock
structure in the Western North Atlantic Ocean
McBride, R. S. (editor), & Smedbol, R. K. (editor). (2022). An
Interdisciplinary Review of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) Stock Structure
in the Western North Atlantic Ocean. https://doi.org/10.25923/SK1X-Z919
An Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Working Group (ACSSWG) was formed in
early 2018 to inventory and summarize all relevant peer-review
information about stock structure of Atlantic cod in US and adjacent
waters (i.e., NAFO management divisions 5 and 6 and interactions with
4X). In addition, new data or information could be internally reviewed
by the ACSSWG for inclusion in this report. Additional feedback was
gained from 3 engagement sessions, 2 sponsored by New England Fishery
Management Council and New Hampshire Sea Grant and 1 sponsored by the
Maine Fishermen’s Forum, each of which added local ecological knowledge
into the ACSSWG deliberations. Read the full paper..
A life history study of Atlantic Wolffish resolves bias and
imprecision in length- and age-at-maturity schedules by recognizing
abortive maturation
McBride, R. S., Fairchild, E. A., Press, Y. K., Elzey, S. P., Adams, C.
F., & Bentzen, P. (2022). A Life History Study of Atlantic Wolffish
Resolves Bias and Imprecision in Length- and Age-at-Maturity Schedules
by Recognizing Abortive Maturation. Marine and Coastal Fisheries,
14(5), e10222. https://doi.org/10.1002/MCF2.10222
Stock assessments of U.S. Atlantic Wolffish Anarhichas lupus are
hampered by a landings moratorium and low catches in fishery-independent
surveys. Working with the commercial fishing industry, we collected
hundreds of fish to overcome a lack of regionally specific life history
information. Based on ages from sectioned otoliths, Atlantic Wolffish
are long lived (maximum observed age: males = 31 years, females = 29
years). A Gompertz growth model showed that Atlantic Wolffish exhibit
dimorphic growth—with larger males across all ages on average.
Preliminary estimates of total mortality ranged from 0.15 to 0.21 and
were lower than an estimate measured at the beginning of the moratorium.
Based on gonad histology, a cohort of vitellogenic oocytes emerged in
mature females by April and developed group synchronously to ovulate
primarily in October. Skip spawning, which accounts for nonannual
spawning, was observed in 5.6% of the mature females. Accounting for
abortive maturation, a physiological event that delays functional
maturation, improved precision and reduced bias of maturity estimates.
The resulting median length at functional maturity was 53 cm total
length (95% confidence interval = 49–56 cm), and the median age was 6.7
years old (6.2–7.2 years). These estimates are smaller and younger than
elsewhere in the western North Atlantic Ocean, confirming that
regionally specific maturity parameters are relevant when assessing
reference points of the U.S. Atlantic Wolffish fishery. Read the full paper..
Evaluating growth dimorphism, maturation, and skip spawning of
Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of Maine using a collaborative research
approach
McBride, R. S., Maynard, G. A., Elzey, S. P., Hennen, D. R., Tholke, E.
K., Runnebaum, J. M., & McGuire, C. H. (2022). Evaluating growth
dimorphism, maturation, and skip spawning of Atlantic halibut in the
Gulf of Maine using a collaborative research approach. Journal of
Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, 53, 57–77. https://doi.org/10.2960/J.V53.M736
The data-limited nature of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus
hippoglossus) in U.S. waters hampers evaluation of what may be a slow
but steady rebuilding pattern. Here, we collaborate with the commercial
fishery to design and implement a multi-gear sampling program that
collected 100s of biological samples from throughout the Gulf of Maine
in a five-year period, 2014–2018. Examination of sectioned otoliths
revealed a maximum age of 12 years (females) and 13 years (males); in
comparison, Atlantic halibut as old as 40–50 years have been collected
elsewhere in the western North Atlantic. Growth modeling confirmed
sexual dimorphism, with a larger asymptotic length (L∞) for females (214
cm fork length [FL]) than males (195 cm FL). Estimates of median female
length at maturity, L50, of 128 cm FL (124–132 cm, 95% confidence
limits), and median female age at maturity, A50, of 9.6 years old
(9.0–10.8 years), were longer and older than previous reports for the
Gulf of Maine, likely resulting from our use of histological instead of
macroscopic methods to classify maturity. Histology demonstrated that
vitellogenesis initiated in individuals in spring, nearly a year prior
to spawning, which allowed us to identify first-time (primiparous)
spawners and provided the first potential evidence of skip spawning for
this species. Finally, an index was developed to track the proportion of
potentially mature females in the fishery, which showed an increasing
trend; this qualitative tool may prove useful in a data-limited
environment for evaluating the relative stock status of Atlantic
halibut. Read the full
paper..
Life history assessment of Cusk, a data-poor species, in U.S.
waters
McElroy, W. D., Tholke, E. K., Wuenschel, M. J., & Robillard, E.
(2022). Life History Assessment of Cusk, a Data-Poor Species, in U.S.
Waters. Marine and Coastal Fisheries, 14(5), e10223. https://doi.org/10.1002/MCF2.10223
Cusk Brosme brosme are fished across the northern Atlantic Ocean, but
even basic biological data are limited in part by their
difficult-to-sample deep and structured habitats. We sampled fish from a
variety of sources across the Gulf of Maine to provide comprehensive
life history information (age and size at maturity, fecundity, sex
ratio, growth) for this data-poor species considered by National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries as a species of concern. Gonad
histology and gonadosomatic index data indicated peak spawning in late
spring (May–June), with limited spawning activity into summer. The
histologically derived length at 50% maturity for female Cusk was
39.5 cm TL. Fecundity varied from a quarter million to four million
oocytes, with a positive allometry versus size indicating that larger
females have proportionally higher fecundity than smaller females. Male
Cusk had unusually low gonadal investment for a gadiform, and males of
all sizes examined (down to 21 cm) had spermatozoa present. Male
maturity was equivocal even when the relative proportions of sperm
stages were quantified through image analysis of gonad histology;
further anatomical and physiological studies of small males are required
to assess functional maturity in male cusk. The sex ratio at length
indicated more males at larger sizes, and males had faster growth and
larger size at age than females. Condition patterns also suggested lower
condition for females than males after spawning and generally less
variable condition for males. Gonadal investment, relative condition,
and growth patterns all suggest differences in energy allocation between
the sexes. This data-poor species has an uncertain stock status in U.S.
waters; therefore, the results of the current work provide important
information to its management. Read the full paper..
Repeated targets of natural selection during ecological transitions
of fish across salinity boundaries
Velotta, J., McCormick, S., Whitehead, A., Durso, C., & Schultz, E.
(2022). Repeated Targets of Natural Selection during Ecological
Transitions of Fish Across Salinity Boundaries. EEB Articles. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/eeb_articles/52
Ecological transitions across salinity boundaries have led to some of
the most important diversification events in the animal kingdom,
especially among fishes. Adaptations accompanying such transitions
include changes in morphology, diet, whole-organism performance, and
osmoregulatory function, which may be particularly prominent since
divergent salinity regimes make opposing demands on systems that
maintain ion and water balance. Research in the last decade has focused
on the genetic targets underlying such adaptations, most notably by
comparing populations of species that are distributed across salinity
boundaries. Here, we synthesize research on the targets of natural
selection using whole-genome approaches, with a particular emphasis on
the osmoregulatory system. Given the complex, integrated and polygenic
nature of this system, we expected that signatures of natural selection
would span numerous genes across functional levels of osmoregulation,
especially salinity sensing, hormonal control, and cellular ion exchange
mechanisms. We find support for this prediction: genes coding for
V-type, Ca2+, and Na+/K+-ATPases, which are key cellular ion exchange
enzymes, are especially common targets of selection in species from six
orders of fishes. This indicates that while polygenic selection
contributes to adaptation across salinity boundaries, changes in ATPase
enzymes may be of particular importance in supporting such transitions.
Read the full
paper..
SNEC exists to encourage exchange of information by members of
the American Fisheries Society residing or working within Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Find us online:
Submit your own newsletter content here
|
|